Yahoo Sports AM: Brackets revealed
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🚨 Headlines
🏈 Chase, Higgins get paid: The Bengals have agreed to big-money extensions with their top two wideouts, making Ja'Marr Chase the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL (four years, $161M) and Tee Higgins the league's highest-paid WR2 (four years, $115M).
🎾 Get to know the name: Mirra Andreeva, 17, won her second straight WTA 1000 event on Sunday at Indian Wells, where she beat the top two players in the world in back-to-back matches to become the tournament's youngest female champion since Serena Williams in 1999.
⚽️ The wait is over: Newcastle defeated reigning champion Liverpool, 2-1, in Sunday's League Cup final to win the club's first major domestic trophy since 1969 and end one of English soccer's most famous droughts.
🏒 Attendance record: The PWHL's Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens played in front of 14,288 fans on Sunday night in Detroit, setting an attendance record for a professional women's hockey game in the U.S.
🇺🇸 American wins LA: Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American man to take the title in 31 years. It was just the second marathon for Richtman, a former All-American cross-country runner at Montana State.
🏀 Men's bracket: 14 of 16 SEC teams get bids
The SEC will send a record 14 teams to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. That's by far the most ever by a single league, obliterating the previous mark of 11 set by the Big East in 2011.
South Region: Auburn's reward for earning the No. 1 overall seed? A potential matchup with an under-seeded Louisville team… in Kentucky. Michigan vs. Michigan State in the Elite Eight? Not if the Wolverines look past a very dangerous UCSD squad (30-4 record, 36th in KenPom).
West Region: Florida is the new title favorite, St. John's is on fire, Drake has all the makings of a Cinderella and the two-time defending champions can't be ignored. Bill Self vs. John Calipari is quite the coaching matchup, and Calipari vs. Rick Pitino would be even better.
East Region: The fate of this region may come down to the state of Cooper Flagg's ankle (the latest: expected to play on Friday). Elsewhere: Alabama has the nation's highest-scoring offense, Arizona rarely goes quietly in March and BYU is a trendy pick to make a deep run.
Midwest Region: If the seeds hold, No. 1 Houston vs. No. 2 Tennessee could be a defensive battle for the ages. But don't be surprised if March regulars like Kentucky (NCAA-record 62 appearances), Purdue (2024 runner-up) and Gonzaga (nine straight Sweet 16s) muck things up.
Notes:
Title favorites: Florida has the best odds to cut down the nets (+350 at BetMGM) after winning Sunday's SEC championship game. Duke (+360) is right behind them, followed by Auburn (+400), Houston (+600), Alabama (+1200) and Tennessee (+1400).
The bubble: North Carolina (36 NET ranking), Texas (39), Xavier (45) and San Diego State (52) were the "Last Four In," while Ohio State (41), Boise State (44), West Virginia (51) and Indiana (54) were the "First Four Out." Here are the five biggest snubs.
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (14), Big Ten (8), Big 12 (7), Big East (5), ACC (4), Mountain West (4), West Coast (2).
First Four: The action begins tomorrow with No. 16 St. Francis PA vs. No. 16 Alabama State (South) and No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 11 San Diego State (South). Then on Wednesday, it's No. 16 Mount St. Mary's vs. No. 16 American (East) and No. 11 Texas vs. No. 11 Xavier (Midwest).
Good read:What the selection committee got right and wrong
Quick links:Fill out your bracket | Printable bracket
🏀 Women's bracket: Bruins on top
While the SEC made history on the men's side, the Big Ten made history on the women's side, landing a record 12 bids and earning two No. 1 seeds courtesy of its California newcomers.
Region 1: UCLA earned the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in program history. Joining them in this corner of the bracket: the nation's leading scorer (FSU's Ta'Niya Latson), the nation's leading rebounder (LSU's Aneesah Morrow) and Harvard, one of three Ivies (!) in the field.
Region 4: USC beat UCLA twice before losing to them in the Big Ten title game. Now, they could face them again in the Final Four — but only if they beat a little program called UConn. Tough draw. A popular upset pick here? Murray State, the nation's top scoring team, over Iowa.
Region 2: The defending champion Gamecocks got some extra motivation when they missed out on the No. 1 overall seed. The biggest threats to South Carolina? No. 2 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina, who could be on a collision course (but beware Vanderbilt freshman Mikayla Blakes!).
Region 3: For the first time since 2013, the top two teams in a region (No. 1 Texas, No. 2 TCU) are from the same state. And for the 43rd time in the last 43 tournaments, Tennessee made the field. Team to watch: Notre Dame, by far the most talented No. 3 seed.
Notes:
Title favorites: South Carolina has the best odds to cut down the nets (+270 at BetMGM), followed by UConn (+275), UCLA (+500), USC (+550), Texas (+600) and Notre Dame (+600).
First-timers: Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Grand Canyon, George Mason, UC San Diego and William & Mary are in the women's tournament for the first time. And in W&M's case, this is the school's first trip to either tournament (more on that this week).
Multi-bid leagues: Big Ten (12), SEC (10), ACC (8), Big 12 (7), Ivy (3), Big East (2), A-10 (2).
First Four: The action begins Wednesday with No. 16 Southern vs. No. 16 UCSD (Region 1) and No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 11 Iowa State (Region 3). Then on Thursday, it's No. 16 William & Mary vs. No. 16 High Point (Region 3) and No. 11 Washington vs. No. 11 Columbia (Region 2).
Quick links:Fill out your bracket | Printable bracket
⚾️ The Tigers steal the show
The best team in the National League? This weekend in Japan, it looked like the Hanshin Tigers, who swept the Cubs and Dodgers in back-to-back exhibitions and didn't allow a single run.
Saturday:Tigers 3, Cubs 0
Sunday:Tigers 3, Dodgers 0
The other games: Los Angeles and Chicago fared better against the Yomiuri Giants, with the Dodgers winning 5-1 on Saturday and the Cubs winning 4-2 on Sunday.
What they're saying: "These two days were priceless," said Tigers manager Kyuji Fujikawa, whose team won the 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball championship. "Really good ballclub," added Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "They clearly showed they can play at the top level."
Stars of the weekend: LHP Keito Mombetsu, 20, threw five perfect innings against the Cubs; RHP Hiroto Saiki, 26, struck out seven Dodgers over five innings; 3B Teruaki Satō, 26, smacked a three-run homer off two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
What's next: The Cubs and Dodgers open the MLB regular season against each other tomorrow at the Tokyo Dome, where five Japanese players will be in the dugouts: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Rōki Sasaki for Los Angeles; Seiya Suzuki and Shōta Imanaga for Chicago.
📸 Through the lens
Orlando — The Orlando Pride dominated the NWSL in 2024 en route to their first title. They picked up right where they left off on Friday, with a 6-0 victory over the Chicago Stars, tied for the largest scoring margin in league history. Week 1 scoreboard.
Tampa — The Savannah Bananas drew a sellout crowd for Saturday's game at Raymond James Stadium (home of the Buccaneers), marking the first time the popular barnstorming baseball team has played in an NFL stadium.
Melbourne, Australia — Lando Norris (McLaren) navigated wet conditions and multiple crashes to win F1's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, beating out four-time defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and George Russell (Mercedes).
Paris, France — France won the Six Nations championship in historic fashion, scoring a tournament-record 30 tries over five matches to claim their seventh title (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2022, 2025), tied with England for the most ever.
📺 Watchlist: Playoff at The Players
Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun will return to TPC Sawgrass this morning (9am ET, Golf/Peacock) for a three-hole playoff to decide The Players Championship after ending Sunday's weather-delayed final round tied at 12-under.
Prize money: The winner gets $4.5 million and the runner-up gets $2.73 million, part of the largest purse on Tour ($25 million total).
How it works: McIlroy and Spaun will start at the par-5 16th, then play their way into the clubhouse. If there's still a tie, they'll play sudden-death at the island green 17th. If it's still tied after that, they'll play the 18th. From there, play will continue starting at the 16th until a winner is determined.
More to watch:
⛳️ TGL: Los Angeles vs. New York (7pm, ESPN2) … Semifinals.*
🏀 Unrivaled: Vinyl vs. Rose (7:30pm, TNT) … Championship.**
🏀 NBA: Heat at Knicks (7:30pm, ESPN); Nuggets at Warriors (10pm, ESPN)
*Double duty: All six golfers teeing it up tonight at SoFi Center made the cut over the weekend at The Players Championship: Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood and Sahith Theegala (LA) vs. Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young (NY).
**Semifinals recap: Rhyne Howard and Vinyl BC (6-9) pulled off a stunning 73-70 upset over league MVP Napheesa Collier and Lunar Owls BC (13-2), while Chelsea Gray led Rose BC (9-6) to a 63-57 win against Alyssa Thomas and Laces BC (7-8).
🇯🇵 Geography trivia
Tokyo, site of this week's Dodgers-Cubs series, is the largest city in the world by population, with an estimated 37 million people.
Question: What's the second largest city in the world by population?
Hint: South Asia.
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 Fill out your bracket!
Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back! Start a bracket and enter for a chance to win $25K in both the men's and women's tournaments. Create your bracket now.
Trivia answer: Delhi, India (34.7 million people)
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